Pumpkin Spice Syrup

I saved the liquid that drained from the pumpkin puree!!! 

2 cups liquid

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

If I had cloves in the house, I'd sprinkle in a bit of that too.

I boiled this mixture, on medium heat, until it reduced to half the amount, making it syrupy and sticky. 

Chicken Noodle Soup

This may have originated in the Mennonite Treasury, and adapted as I learned how to make it. This version is in the White Recipe Book, page 67.

Drop the chicken parts into a stock pot. Cover with cold water, bring to a boil, skim off all the scum that comes to the top. After the scum stops rising, throw in a small onion (or large one) and simmer slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Add salt to taste. It takes a lot of salt to make it taste good! I don't know how much water I use but it's a lot, and I start with 1 Tbsp salt.

Add the following spices to the soup 1/2 hour before serving:

1 bunch parsley, cut fine (2 Tbsp dried)
12 whole peppercorns, at least (20+ or 1/2 tsp)
1 bay leaf (1 large, 1 small)
1 whole star aniseed (1/2 Tbsp pieces)
1 2" piece of cinnamon stick

Processing Pumpkins

This is from allrecipes.com and is a great guide to help you figure out how to stock your freezer with rich pumpkin puree for your fall and winter recipes! I am looking forward to a Pumpkin Spice Latte!

Smaller is Better

Choose sugar pie pumpkins or other flavorful varieties. Small and sweet, with dark orange-colored flesh, they're perfect for pies, soups, muffins and breads.

A medium-sized (4-pound) sugar pumpkin should yield around 1½ cups of mashed pumpkin. This puree can be used in all your recipes calling for canned pumpkin.

Field pumpkins, which are bred for perfect jack-o'-lanterns, tend to be too large and stringy for baking.

Choose Your Method

There are three ways to transform an uncooked pumpkin into the puree used in baking: 

Baking Method

• Cut the pumpkin in half and discard the stem section and stringy pulp. Save the seeds to dry and roast
• In a shallow baking dish, place the two halves face down and cover with foil
• Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for about 1½ hours for a medium-sized sugar pumpkin, or until tender
• Once the baked pumpkin has cooled, scoop out the flesh and puree or mash it
• For silky smooth custards or soups, press the pumpkin puree through a sieve

Boiling Method

• Cut the pumpkin in half, discarding the stringy insides
• Peel the pumpkin and cut it into chunks
• Place in a saucepan and cover with water
• Bring to a boil and cook until the pumpkin chunks are tender
• Let the chunks cool, and then puree the flesh in a food processor or mash it with a potato masher or food mill

Microwave Method

• Cut the pumpkin in half, discarding the stringy insides
• Microwave on high power for seven minutes per pound, turning pieces every few minutes to promote even cooking. Process as above
• You can refrigerate your fresh pumpkin puree for up to three days, or store it in the freezer up to six months, enabling you to enjoy fall pumpkins for months to come

Thicker is Better

Once you've got a rich, smooth batch of pumpkin puree ready, you may notice that it's much more runny than the kind you get out of a can. We suggest that you allow your homemade puree to drain overnight before baking with it, especially if you're using a recipe that originally called for canned puree. The more water you can get out of the puree, the better.

To drain puree, line a large strainer with a double thickness of cheesecloth, a few flattened coffee filters, or a thin, clean dishtowel you don't mind getting stained orange. Place the strainer in a bowl, and then pour the puree into the lined strainer. Lay a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the puree and place the whole setup in the fridge overnight. You can use this puree in any recipe that calls for pumpkin puree.

To freeze it: Measure it into recipe-sized quantities (usually 2 cups) and store in resealable freezer bags. It will keep wonderfully for at least 6 months.
 

 Notes:

Here's a comment someone shared on this article on allrecipes: "An even better way to cook the pumpkin for a pie is to cut the pumpkin in half like two bowls and bake them with cream, spices and sugar in them. This makes a nice moist, mellow mixture once the flesh is scooped out that only needs eggs to be turned into pie (and you don't have to use yucky canned milk products!)"

This one's fascinating for a variety of reasons! "If you need to 'cook down' the pumpkin puree you've made, let it slowly simmer on the stove until it gets thick enough that the spoon makes a path through it. There is an excellent recipe for Stewed Pumpkin in Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ignalls Wilder. It's also reprinted in the Little House Cookbook. The cookbook says the stewed pumpkin should take about FIVE HOURS of cooking to get to the proper consistency. I happen to have a sugar pumpkin in the oven right now, baking is much easier."

Draining: I put the puree in a steamer-type pot with a coffee filter covering the holes, covered it with plastic wrap, and put it in the fridge over night. Then, I took it out and put it in a warm place, assuming it would drain even more as it came to room temperature. We'll see how it goes!

Tomato Soup

This recipe comes from Mennonite Girls Can Cook and I made a few small (I thought insignificant) changes but this just ended up bland for me...

Soup Ingredients:
2 Tbsp oil
1 onion, chopped very fine
1/2 green pepper, chopped fine
1/2 cup celery, chopped fine
1 tsp basil
1 tsp dill weed
28 oz canned whole tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
pepper, to taste
2 cups chicken stock (1 Knorr chicken bouillon cube + 2 cups water)

White Sauce:
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups milk

Blend tomatoes in blender until just blended. (Do not substitute whole tomatoes for pre-blended) Heat first 6 ingredients in large pot until onion softens. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper; simmer 10 minutes. Add chicken stock; simmer 20 min.
In a small pot, melt butter, using whisk, blend in flour and milk to make a white sauce. Stir sauce into tomato soup. Serves 4 – 6

Notes:

I didn't have a green pepper so I used a whole red one.

I think I did about 3 cups of stock, so I increased the basil and dill to 2 tsp each.

I didn't use canned tomatoes or tomato paste. I blanched a whack of tomatoes (Roma maybe?) threw them in the pot. Maybe this is where I went wrong... too much juice from the tomatoes and I diluted the rest of it???

I did one fairly small onion, I could have done a large one for the amount of soup I have. 

I didn't do the final steps with the white sauce because there's no point in continuing if the first part isn't tasty. I'll work on what I have and then do the final step.

Chocolate Black Bean Brownies

 A very simple and yummy recipe from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It's gluten-free, no sugar added and still tasty! This is copied directly from their site:

1-19 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed well
3 eggs
1/3 cup of coconut oil*
1/2 cup honey 
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup, sifted cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Grease a 9 " inch pan.  Line with parchment paper. 
2. Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until it is all liquid with no lumps.  
3. Pour into the cake pan.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30  minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (In my oven it took a full 35 minutes, so make sure to test your brownie).
5. Cool for 10 minutes. 
6. Remove from pan, and cool completely. 
7. Cover and refrigerate over night.  In my opinion this tastes best cold straight out of the fridge.
8. Serve with whip cream or ice cream if desired.
9. This cake is suitable for gluten free, lactose intolerant diets. 

*vegetable oil can used in place of the coconut oil, but I like the hint of coconut flavor it gives the brownie. 

Notes:

I  used vegetable oil so I didn't have any coconut flavor, and I'm okay with that. 

The kids couldn't keep their hands off these brownies!

May 12, 2015: I made 12 muffin sized brownies and they worked great! LET COOL IN PAN!

Asian noodle dish

I knew I had this somewhere! It was on my FB. This is from the Kraft magazine.

For this recipe, I increased everything except the chicken. Hey, meat's expensive, so I use more vegetables. The recipe suggests using snow peas, sliced peppers, sliced carrots, or chopped red onions instead of broccoli (or in addition to... mmm). This would be a GREAT meal to buy a box of spring rolls and plum sauce to have on the side. mmmm YUM!

300g angel hair pasta
2 cups broccoli florets
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup Kraft Signature Asian Sesame dressing (our local Superstore has it)
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp EACH: ground ginger, garlic powder, crushed red pepper
1/3 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding broccoli to the boiling water for the last 3 minutes of the pasta cooking time.

Meanwhile, spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat on medium-high heat. Add chicken, cook 6 to 8 minutes or until cooked through, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

Drain pasta mixture; place in large bowl. Add chicken mixture, mix lightly. Spoon evenly into four serving bowls; sprinkle with the peanuts.

Banana-only ice cream

http://www.cometogetherkids.com/2012/05/banana-ice-cream-made-from-bananas-only.html

This is too good to keep to myself! It's ice cream and the only ingredient: bananas. Seriously.

More detailed info on the link, complete with photos.

Take your banana collection that's just a bit more ripe than you'd want to eat as is or grab some that you have already in the freezer. Cut the not-frozen banana into 1 inch chunks, lay them out in a single layer on wax paper on a baking sheet, freeze. Or if you're using an already-frozen banana, leave it on the counter just long enough so you can peel it. 

Grab a food processor or blender, throw in the frozen pieces, blend, scrape down if you need to, blend more until it's a smooth, creamy-looking texture. It's like soft-serve ice cream!

But, let's get creative! And if you've tried a variation on this theme, give me a holler and I can list if here if you like, to inspire others :)

I added fresh strawberries to mine. It tastes like a smoothie. Would be AMAZING on waffles.

Other additions:

peanut butter

coconut

pineapple
Nutella

Multigrain Buns

I've made this recipe a number of times, but not for a few years. It's from the white recipe book (I still have some if you want a copy and the money goes to our church missions projects.) This is Rachael Penner's recipe.

4 cups warm water

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 Tbsp salt

1 tsp vinegar

2 egg whites, well beaten (or 1 whole egg)

1 cup powdered milk

1 cup bran

1 cup flax seed, freshly ground

1 cup rolled oats, ground in blender

4 cups whole wheat flour

2 Tbsp Fermipan yeast

6 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup crushed sunflower seeds, opional

Put water, honey, oil, salt, vinegar, eggs, powdered milk, bran, flax seed, oats, and whole wheat flour. Mix well.

As you continue to mix, sprinkle with yeast. Knead in the all purpose flour for 8 to 10 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Shape into buns or loaves, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1 to 1 1/2 hours). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minute for buns, 35-40 minutes for loaves.

Notes:

Makes a huge batch! 2 large and 2 small loaves, 6 large buns and 6 muffin cup buns.

A coffee grinder works well to grind the flax.

Multigrain flour is fantastic in place of whole wheat.

I used 2 whole eggs instead of 2 egg whites.

Fried Rice

This is called "Fried Rice Restaurant Style" on allrecipes.com. It's very similar to how I throw together fried rice. This could be gluten-free if the soy sauce is GF.

2 cups enriched white rice
4 cups water
2/3 cup chopped baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
soy sauce to taste
sesame oil, to taste (optional)

In a saucepan, combine rice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, boil carrots in water about 3 to 5 minutes. Drop peas into boiling water, and drain.

Heat wok over high heat. Pour in oil, then stir in carrots and peas; cook about 30 seconds. Crack in eggs, stirring quickly to scramble eggs with vegetables. Stir in cooked rice. Shake in soy sauce, and toss rice to coat. Drizzle with sesame oil, and toss again. 

Notes:

This is a great way to use leftover rice. If you plan to prepare rice for dinner one night, make extra to use for this purpose. I personally prefer brown rice and I don't know how to link to it, but if you search my blog, I have a good recipe for that.

The first review on this recipe on allrecipes says: "really easy and yummy! IMPORTANT NOTE: if you want it to taste like true restaurant style, you need to put the rice only in a pot over high heat and stir it around for about 5 minutes or so before cooking. it helps the grains of rice to stay separate (more like restaurant style) and less sticky. i also used frozen peas/carrots from a bag...worked great!"

The second review says: "This is a great recipe! The only thing I want to add is that to get that authentic "taste" of restaurant fried rice, you should add about half a bottle of Oyster Sauce. Easily found in the asian section at the grocery store. Back off on that much if it tastes too strong, but after years of living in Japan and trying many versions of fried rice recipes, oyster sauce is the ticket!"

I typically saute onion and frozen-veggies-from-a-bag together, add the rice, then the eggs, and then the soy sauce and a little sesame oil at the end. It can be a pretty simple and complete meal on its own, especially if you have meat in it.

Orange Muffins

I'm bored of all the usual things I have for breakfast, like toast with cinnamon and sugar, or cereal, so today it was muffins! I wanted to try something different, I already made banana muffins a couple of days ago and I knew I had a bowl full of oranges I could use. I wonder what allrecipes has for orange muffin recipes! This is the first one that came up, and wouldn't you know, the comment posted by the person who contributed the recipe said, "An old Mennonite recipe". Say no more!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange zest

2/3 cup orange juice
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1/2 cup ground walnuts (optional)

1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, white sugar and grated orange peel. Stir in orange juice, 1/2 cup melted butter, eggs and chopped nuts.

Pour into 12 muffin cups.

Blend 1 tablespoon melted margarine, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle on top of each muffin. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 20-25 minutes. Serve hot.

Notes:

I didn't have white sugar, so I used 1/3 cup brown sugar. (I prefer to reduce sugar in most recipes.)

I pulled the insides out of the orange and used a hand blender to mix it with butter and eggs. May as well keep the fiber of the orange, not just the juice. I should have measured the orange juice because the muffins were a tiny bit dry, so I may have been a little short on juice. 

I made a small mistake with the topping. I did extra butter (of course!) so the topping wasn't crumbly. It still turned out okay (not ideal, just okay), but you'll definitely want to maintain that crumb texture with the topping.

This would probably work just as well with whole-wheat flour, to make it just a little bit healthier with a little more fiber.

Ham Casserole

I don't know for sure, but I think this recipe is from my friend Melissa Cosens. I love a nice casserole for breakfast and this is what my family made for me for Mother's Day. It's also a good brunch potluck dish. It would be great with eggs on the side, and coffee of course.

4 cups frozen shredded hashbrowns
1 1/2 cups chopped ham
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 sm. onion, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted

Mix hashbrowns, ham, cheese & onion in 1 L. casserole or 9X9 cake pan. Mix sour cream, milk & pepper lightly & pour over hashbrown mixture. Combine crumbs & butter, sprinkle over casserole. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.

Notes:

Melissa's comments: I often don't bother with the ham & sometimes I add a can of corn. I don't either usually do the bread crumbs. Sometimes I find you need a little more of the sour cream/milk sauce & I usually add more cheese than it calls for.

My comments: I'm not a bread crumb topping kinda person either

I have not tried a can of cream soup, but I imagine you'd have a wide variety of options if you tried it. Cream of mushroom would be good. I'm not a fan of cheddar cheese soup, but I suppose that could work. Or swap out the ham for chicken and use cream of chicken soup. I imagine it would work well!

Thai Chicken Pizza

Obviously this will be unlike any pizza you've probably ever tried. Fantastic! It's a bit of work to pull it together, but so worth it! I don't remember where I got this recipe... but it's kinda Rachael Ray, isn't it?

1 pizza dough, any brand
1/2 cup duck sauce or plum sauce
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 package shredded provolone or Monterey Jack cheese (2 cups)
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 rounded tablespoonful peanut butter
2 teaspoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons grill seasoning (such as Montreal Steak Seasoning) (eyeball it)
4 chicken breast cutlets, 1/2 pound
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
1/4 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
4 scallions, chopped
1 cup bean spouts, a couple of handfuls
Palmful cilantro leaves, chopped
1/4 cup chopped peanuts, 2 ounces

Pre-heat oven to 425°F.

Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top with duck or plum sauce - spread it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some crushed red pepper flakes then top with cheese and peppers. Bake until golden and bubbly, 15-17 minutes.

Pre-heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use the microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce, 10 seconds ought to do it. Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Let stand 10 minutes then grill chicken cutlets 2-3 minutes on each side, until firm. Slice chicken into very thin strips.

While chicken cooks, mix honey and vinegar and add the cucumber. Turn to coat evenly.

Top the hot, cooked pizza with chicken, scallions, sprouts and cilantro. Drain cucumbers and scatter over the pizza. Garnish pizza with peanuts, cut into 8 wedges and serve.

Mediterranean Burgers with Fattoush Salad

This is Rachael Ray too. I've made this a couple of times, but not recently.

*March 23, 2013 update: This recipe is gluten-free if you don't use the pitas. But always check ingredient lists for yourself.

3 pita breads, torn into pieces

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken or ground lamb

1 cup full-fat plain yogurt

3/4 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves (a couple of handfuls), chopped and divided

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon ground cumin (a palmful)

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano (half a palmful)

1 1/2 teaspoons sweet paprika (half a palmful)

1 tablespoon grill seasoning (a palmful)

1 pinch ground cinnamon

Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO), for drizzling plus about 3 tablespoons for dressing

1 seedless European cucumber, diced into bite-size pieces

1 red or green bell pepper, seeded and diced into bite-sized pieces

4 ribs celery with leafy greens intact, chopped

1/2 large red onion, chopped

2 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced

1/2 pound feta, crumbled

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped

6 pepperoncini (light green peppers), chopped

Juice of 2 lemons

Yields: 4 servings

Preheat oven 375°F.

Arrange the torn-up pieces of pita bread on a cookie sheet. Transfer to the oven and toast until crispy about 5 minutes.

While the pitas are toasting up, start the burgers: Combine ground chicken with yogurt, 1/4 of the parsley, 2 chopped garlic cloves, cumin, oregano, paprika, grill seasoning and cinnamon. Score the meat in 4 equal portions then form 4 patties about 1-inch thick. Preheat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add a drizzle of EVOO to the skillet to coat the bottom in a thin layer. Once it ripples, add the patties and cook 6-7 minutes on each side.

While the burgers cook, combine cucumber, bell pepper, celery, red onion, remaining chopped garlic clove, tomatoes, feta, olives, hot peppers and the remaining chopped parsley in a bowl for the salad. Squeeze the lemons and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of EVOO over them, season with some salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Add the toasted torn pita breads and toss again. Let sit while the burgers finish cooking. Taste to adjust seasonings. Top salad with patties and serve.

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Green Eggs and Ham

Here's a Rachael Ray recipe. It sounds strange, but it's so delicious. This recipe could be gluten-free if the deli meat is gluten-free.




1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 tablespoon butter
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 box frozen chopped spinach (10-ounce), defrosted in microwave and liquids drained
1/3-1/2 cup heavy cream, (eyeball it)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
8 slices deli ham or prosciutto di Parma

8 eggs

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 375°F.

In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the EVOO and the butter and sweat the shallots a few minutes. Add the spinach and stir in the cream, season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Cook the spinach, stirring occasionally, until the cream has thickened, 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning to your taste.

Fold each slice of ham or prosciutto in half and line the nonstick cups with 1 slice of meat each. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of the cooked spinach into each of the cups, then crack an egg into each, making sure it stays whole (hint - if you're worried about breaking the egg yolk, crack the egg into a small bowl first, then pour it into the muffin cup). Season the tops of the eggs with salt and freshly ground black pepper and bake in the oven until set, about 15 minutes. Allow the baked eggs to cool in the muffin cups for a couple of minutes before removing them from the pan. Serve immediately.

Chinese Happy Family

This is from allrecipes dot com. I wanted some sort of stir fry recipe, and I have yet to find one that I'm capable of turning into something yummy. This is my inspiration and of course I made many variations. As usual, I'll post the original recipe and then note my changes at the end.

3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cubed
1 (15 ounce) can baby corn, drained
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 (16 ounce) package frozen stir-fry vegetables
1 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon soy sauce

This is the top rated review on the recipe: That is a good start. But to have a true happy family you need to add a few things more. You need to have shrimp, scallops and chicken. Also needed is some pea pods along with the veggies. How I make mine is to start with onion, garlic, a little ginger, water chestnuts stir fry together. Add some mushrooms, and green pepper. Remove all items as you fry them in a wok and store them in the wok cover. Stir fry some carrots, and a little celery. removing as they are fried and keep in cover to allow flavors to visit. Stir some mushrooms of your choice and put them in the wok cover then stir fry the chicken, remove to a bowl, add the scallops remove to same bowl, then stir fry shrimp. Add scallops and chicken to wok and continue to heat. Add a mixture of corn starch and chicken broth and bring to boil and let thicken. when thickened, add the items in the wok cover back to make one big happy family. Served over sticky rice. All these flavors are sure happy to be together and they will make one happy family sitting at that dinner table. 

Notes:

I used only one chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces, tossed in cornstarch and fried.

I used half of a small onion, 1/4 of a red pepper, no yellow pepper or corn, I added a thinly sliced carrot, garlic, and broccoli.

As noted in the review above, I fried the veggies in small batches and set them aside to "visit".

Instead of water, I used low sodium chicken stock.

I sprinkled in maybe 1/4 tsp ginger powder into the chicken stock.

After all of the vegetables and chicken were fried and set aside, I heated up the pan, added a small amount of oil and when it was hot, dropped all of the stuff in it to get it steaming hot. I cranked up a pot of water and dropped in noodles to cook for 2 minutes. I dumped the soy sauce, cornstarch, and stock mixture into the veggies to simmer and thicken. I dropped the cooked noodles into the veggies and sauce and mixed it and served it immediately. And it was delicious.

Brie - Pepper and Pecan

And this one was sitting in my "drafts" box for ages too. Oh well. Better late than never.

I got this recipe from my Pampered Chef lady. It's amazing! The one I made most recently was spicy because I intentionally left the seeds in the pepper. Mmm! Also great when served with Wheat Thins crackers.

Don't look at this as a complicated recipe because it's SO simple and people just can't get enough!

Tangy Pepper-Pecan Brie

1 jalapeño pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped

¼ cup (50 mL) apricot preserves

1 4-in. (10-cm) round (8 oz/250 g) Brie or Camembert cheese with rind, room temperature

½ cup (125 mL) pecan halves, coarsely chopped

1 loaf (16 ounces/500 g) French baguette

Vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). In Small Batter Bowl, combine jalapeño and preserves; mix well.

Cut Brie in half horizontally. Place one half of Brie, cut side up, onto center of Large Round Stone. Spread half of the apricot mixture over bottom half of Brie. Top with half of the pecans and remaining half of Brie, cut side up. Spread remaining apricot mixture over Brie; sprinkle with remaining pecans.

Using Bread Knife, cut baguette on a bias into twenty-four ¼-inch-thick (6-mm) slices. Arrange baguette slices around Brie; spray with vegetable oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Bake 8-10 minutes or until baguette slices are golden brown and Brie begins to soften. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serve using Bamboo Spreader.

Yield: 12 servings

If you need anything from Pampered Chef, Kelly is awesome!

Kelly Evans

Independent Advanced Director

237-6948

Kel.evans@shaw.ca

www.pamperedchef.biz/kellyevans

Burgers with mushrooms

Another delight from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld. It's called "Burgers 2" in the recipe book. I should have helped her name her recipes.

1 lb ground lean turkey or sirloin

1/2 lb white button or (stemmed) shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and finely chopped

1 cup whole-wheat or Italian (seasoned) breadcrumbs

1/4 cup chopped or grated zucchini

1 Tablespoon Worshestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons ketchup

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

nonstick cooking spray

1 Tablespoon olive oil

16 whole-grain hamburger buns

The recipe says these are baked. Why? But I'll write it as listed, but they're amazing on the grill.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix the meat, mushrooms, breadcrumbs, zucchini, Worchestershire sauce, ketchup, salt, and pepper until well combined. The mixture will be moist. Form into 16 patties and place them on a sheet of waxed paper or aluminum foil.

Coat a large nonstick ovenproof skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-high heat. When the skillet is hot, add the oil. Add the burgers and brown on one side for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn the burgers, then slide the skillet into the oven. Bake for 4 to 5 minutes longer, or until the burgers are no longer pink in the center. Serve each burger on a bun.

Notes:

Delicious! So moist! For some reason our grocery store didn't have zucchini, so I threw in one egg for a double batch of meat.

And about putting ketchup in the meat. Why not just use barbecue sauce? I used that instead of ketchup.

Greek Chicken with Feta Tzatziki

This is what's for dinner tonight.... as Rachael Ray would say. I'm really excited to try this!

• 4 pieces chicken breast
• Poultry seasoning
• Salt and pepper
• 3 lemons, 1 sliced, 2 halved for juicing
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic, 2 chopped, 1 clove pasted or grated
• 1 red chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 sprigs oregano, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped 

 

• 1/3 cup EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 seedless cucumber, peeled and grated or shredded
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup Greek feta crumbles
• A small handful of dill
• A small handful of parsley 

• Greek vegetable salad: (use a combo of all or some!) diced seeded tomatoes, cucumber, red onions, bell peppers, light green small Greek pickled hot peppers, parsley tops 

• Flat bread, pita or Naan bread 

Season chicken with dried poultry seasoning, salt and pepper. Add to a bag with sliced lemon, chopped garlic, chili pepper, oregano and rosemary. Marinate several hours or overnight. 

Bring to room temp then cook on a hot grill or grill pan over medium-high heat 12-15 minutes. Let rest then slice on angle, douse with juice of 1 lemon.

For sauce, salt shredded cucumber and drain in strainer for 20-30 minutes. Press out all the liquid you can and transfer to food processor with yogurt, feta, dill, parsley, salt, pepper, juice of remaining halved lemon and grated or pasted garlic, and process until smooth.

Grill bread. 

Slather grilled bread with sauce, top with sliced chicken and some diced vegetable salad. 

Notes:

I forgot to get real garlic so I have garlic powder in the chicken marinade. Hard to compare real garlic with a powder, but it'll have to do for now.

I also have honey Greek yogurt.... so I'll have to think about going with the honey OR going back to the store for plain.

Delicious! Even Tava gobbled it up! 

I used what I had on hand, which means tortillas instead of pitas or Naan, but it was still good. I lightly grilled the tortillas to warm them up.

It always seems to me that Rachael Ray adds salt constantly, so I didn't add s+p to everything... but I should have. 

The honey in the Greek yogurt turned out okay. I think. I've never made tzatziki and I've only had it a couple of times, so I'm not all that familiar with what it should taste like. It was really tasty though.

Potato Salad

I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet! It's my favorite potato salad recipe that I've been using since 2004. It's from allrecipes. Here's what is posted with the recipe:

This creamy salad is made with red potatoes, which give this dish -- chock full of melt-in-your-mouth bacon, bits of hard boiled egg, crunchy celery, and spicy onion -- a delectable firm texture.

2 pounds clean, scrubbed new red potatoes
6 eggs
1 pound bacon
1 onion finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cups mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain and set in the refrigerator to cool.

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove hot water, cool, peel, and chop.

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.

Chop the cooled potatoes, leaving skin on. Add to a large bowl, along with the eggs, bacon, onion, and celery. Add mayo, salt and pepper to taste. Chill for an hour before serving.

Notes:I peel and chop the potatoes before I cook them. I cut them into small cubes, cook, drain, fill the pot with cold water to cool the potatoes. I check the water after a few minutes and change the water if it's too warm.

I reduce the onion to about 1/3 of an onion. No need to overpower it.

I increase the amount of celery. I love the texture, flavor, and color it adds.

When I cook the bacon, I use my scissors to cut the bacon into small pieces. I fry it over a lower temperature so that it separates well. I scoop it out of the pan and put it onto a plate covered with several layers of paper towel to absorb a bunch of the grease.

When I make the potato salad in advance of an event or meal, I find the potatoes absorb a lot of the mayo. I double check it before serving to see if it needs more mayo so that it's not too dry.

Chocolate Pie Filling

I've wanted to find a good, basic, make-from-scratch chocolate pie filling and this one is it! It's on allrecipes, but it's called "Chocolate Cornstarch Pudding".

1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cups milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Place over medium heat, and stir in milk. Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in margarine and vanilla. Let cool briefly, and serve warm, or chill in refrigerator until serving.

Notes:
The tablespoons of cocoa should be HEAPING.

I made three 9" pie crusts so a double batch of this filling was the perfect amount! The conversion for a double batch:

1 cup white sugar
6 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups milk
4 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla

I put the pies outside to chill, but the weather turned cold and I let one pie freeze. It changed the texture and turned it almost grainy. It's still totally edible, but there is a noticeable texture difference. The pie that didn't freeze was very yummy and creamy!

"playkittenpie" made these comments on allrecipes, which I found helpful:

To avoid lumps, put 1st 4 ingredients in saucepan and mix well. If there are any lumps, get in there with your fingers and work them out. If you don't want to do it with your hands you can use a sifter or push them through a sieve. You must have a smooth, lump-free powder before you add your liquid. I also use a whisk and constantly stir. Lastly, it will sometimes thicken before it boils but I find if I don't let it boil for even just 10 seconds, I can taste the cornstarch in it.

As with any cream pie, you'll want to lay plastic wrap directly on top of the pie to avoid that nasty skin thing as it cools.